Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Her cadence grew faster, more urgent. “It only ever happens at the house. I’ve never had an onset at the cabin, or when I was at a private medical facility at a different family home during the early stages of my pregnancy. But…” A hard swallow. “I do have brain damage. There is a minor chance that none of my information is reliable.”
Remi’s gut clenched, his mind flashing with images of another woman who’d lost piece after piece of herself as disease ate away at her. His mother’s slow decline had devastated Remi. And she’d never lost any of her sharpness, her mind acute till the end.
“You need to be in a controlled environment to test it,” he said through the heavy weight on his chest. “Somewhere safe, and away from your home.”
“It’s not my home,” was the pointed response. “It’s my mother’s house. There’s a difference.”
No home. No safe place to land.
Remi understood that in a way few changelings ever would. After his alpha kicked him out, he’d had not a chance in hell of stopping his mother from joining him in exile. She was the one who’d found them a new home in the pack associated with her own lost mama—but by then, Remi had been too wounded in the heart to trust any alpha.
However, he’d always had his mother, always had one person who was home, who was trust, who was comfort and loyalty and strength when he might’ve been faltering.
Quite unlike Auden…but this same woman who didn’t feel safe in her own mother’s house was fighting like a leopardess for her cub. His pride at her courage and ferocity both was a growl within.
“I’ve barred myself from flying until I can be certain I won’t have a seizure,” she said now. “I can’t get to the cabin on my own.”
“Does teleporting affect pregnant women?” Remi knew the Arrows would do him this favor—not for Auden, but for the child growing in her womb. All the adult Arrows had been abused children once upon a time, and if they had a trigger point for rage, it was harm to a child.
“I don’t know.” Auden bit down on her lower lip. “I don’t want to risk it, regardless, not now I have a choice. I’ve already almost lost my baby twice.” Her hand threatened to creep to her belly. “Even a tiny fluctuation during teleportation could cause a stillbirth.”
It took everything Remi had not to haul her close, just cuddle the worry and tension out of her. “I can fly a chopper.” He’d learned to do so during his days as a race car driver—just another beautiful machine to control, as he couldn’t control so many fucking things in his life.
Auden sucked in a breath. “After we sign the deal,” she said. “Then I can swing your offer to fly me as a way to stay in our good graces. Stress,” she murmured under her breath, “that’s not good for the baby—and I can make sure something stresses me out enough that I need calm surroundings.”
“Auden. Stop pandering to these people. You’re the CEO.” Remi hated the idea of her being controlled and made smaller. “You’re also tougher than they’ll ever be.”
“You don’t see,” she said, low and quiet and potent. “I’m not playing their game. I’m playing mine.” A glint in her eye that was almost feral. “I’ll do anything to protect my baby, and if that means lulling them into a false sense of security by appearing weak, then so be it.”
His leopard’s fur brushed the insides of his skin; the more he learned about Auden Scott, the more he wanted to have her to himself, know all of her…even if the idea of watching her lose pieces of herself until all that remained was a hollow shell was a howling terror in the back of his brain.
Never again, he’d promised himself after he buried his mother.
But how could the nineteen-year-old he’d been have predicted Auden? A woman he’d never even touched but whose existence had become a visceral part of his.
“Faking being lame to ease their suspicions while you prepare to rip out their fucking jugular?” he said, wishing he could brush his thumb over her lower lip, rub his jaw against her skin. “I approve.” It came out a rumble heavy with the leopard’s approbation.
Auden’s pupils dilated, her breath catching. But the scent that made his nostrils flare wasn’t fear. It was richer, tarter, more delicious.
“And you, Auden Scott, approve of the animal inside me,” he said, using the word animal on purpose because that was part of him and he was proud of it.
She stilled, their eyes locked in contact intimate and naked.
“Sir!” Charisma’s voice cut through the air. “Have you been told about this advanced new method?”
The spell broken, their time alone at an end, Remi let Auden take the lead in this dangerous game. All the while, the clock in his mind ticked down to when he could issue the invitation to fly her up to the cabin. Where they could be alone. Where they could talk without boundaries. Where they could plot to break Auden out of her fucking jail cell.